Many television and movie viewers now desire on-demand access to video and other media content. As a first example, a television viewer may desire to watch a television show that he or she missed during the show's regular air time on television. The viewer may download the show on demand over the Internet via a web browser or other application on a notebook computer, tablet computer, desktop computer, mobile telephone, or other device, then view that show in the browser or other application. As a second example, a viewer may download a movie on demand. As a third example, a viewer may participate in a videoconference with other viewers.
Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over Hypertext Transfer Protocol (DASH) is a standard developed to provide such media content and is partially described in International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 23009-1, First Edition, 2012 (“23009-1”), which is incorporated in its entirety. In addition, ISO/IEC 23009-1, Technical Corrigendum 1, 2013 is incorporated in its entirety. In DASH, there are two main devices, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server or servers that provide the content and the DASH client that downloads the content and is associated with the viewer, or user. DASH leaves control with the client, which can request content using the HTTP protocol. DASH is dynamic and adaptive because the client may choose from among multiple forms of content, or data, based on a variety of factors such as network conditions, device capability, and user choice. For example, the HTTP server may inform the client of different download bit rates, the client may choose one of the bit rates, and the client may begin downloading segments of data at the chosen bit rate. If for some reason network conditions deteriorate, then the client may change to a lower bit rate and begin downloading segments of data at the new bit rate. DASH's adaptability therefore ensures that the client consumes less than the available bandwidth.
The television show, movie, video conference, or other media content that the client desires to view may be referred to as the main content. The provider of the main content may desire to earn revenue for providing the main content. One way to earn revenue is to include advertisements with the main content. The advertisements may be referred to as ads or ad content. Accordingly, the HTTP server may direct the client to download ads from an ad server. The client may not be able to download or view the main content or portions of the main content until it downloads and views the ad content. Furthermore, certain restrictions may be placed on the browser or other application that the content is viewed through so that the ad content cannot be skipped while viewing. Once the client downloads and views the ads, then the provider of the ad content may pay the provider of the main content.